When I approached this, I wanted to createa mathematical model that made it possible to reach our $3.8 million newrevenue goal by 2020.  If we can do that, we can pave and do all theother city services needed each year in a sustainable fashion.

Inthe prior We Need New Revenues post, I laid out several sources ofnew revenues that would start rebuilding our ability to provide all cityservices in a sustainable, year to year fashion.   So now we are upto other new jobs needed by 2020.   I hope to create, over the nextfive years, approximately 350 jobs averaging $50,000 per job and another600 jobs averaging $40,000 per job.  That, in turn, would bring in anadditional $726,250 per year in new income tax revenue.

Let’s start with the general and work to thespecific.  We have land, commercial and industrial buildings, an airport,mall, downtown, etc., all of which have potential to bring these jobs totown.  At the end of the day, it’s important to hit the revenuegoals.  If opportunities presented over the next five years change thebeginning mix of jobs as I’ve laid it out here, as long as we hit the revenuegoals and can complete needed public services, I’m not going to get too hung upon the actual job mix.  If property values raise and we beat the propertytax goal, that just means we need less new jobs to meet the goal.  Keepyour eye on the end game.

So how do we get there? One bite at a time. Thegood news is that we already have a head start before we even begin working onthe five year plan.

Yesterday marked the ribbon cutting for thebeautiful new Arlington Pointe, a nursing and retirement facility located on Hendrickson Road.This addition to Middletownwill add 200 jobs (about 70% medical related) and new property taxes toour city this year.  The facility boasts 99 private rooms, a full physicaltherapy room, two physical therapy pools, and much more.  It isa beautiful state of the art facility.

NTE is underconstruction and will bring 35 full time higher paying jobs whencompleted.  Cohen Electronics Recycling is planning to open this springwith 10-15 new full time positions.  AK Steel Research and Innovation Center, under construction at thehighway, hopes to add 15 new engineers over the next several years.  A newmanufacturer will be moving into the MADE industrial complex with 25 new fulltime positions in the next month or so.  Add them together and you’veadded 285 new full time positions in the city before we start on the plan.

East End

Let’s be honest.  The East End is the largest opportunity for new development available tothe city.  AK Steel’s new facility is under construction.  PlanningCommission approved the new $2 million gas station at the old putt putt whichwill begin construction this spring.  The new gas station and restaurantcombination brings a much needed gas station to the east end ramp, but alsoadds new jobs and property taxes for the city.

Beyond that, we have almost 600 acres to bedeveloped on the east side of the highway.  We’ll be working with Atrium,AK Steel, Fischer Homes and the area property owners to market those propertiesfor new, upper end development over the next five years.

We are at a fortunate position right now, in thatwe will be receiving a lot of one-time construction income tax from the variousnew projects I’ve been describing above.  Those funds can be used tocreate further economic incentives for new business or to provide theinfrastructure needed in roads or utilities to bring a new project toconstruction.

Airport

Most of the current airport is leased andfull.  There are, however, acres of opportunities to expand operations atthe airport.  Staff went to Detroitin October 2015 to meet with FAA to present a plan to expand airport operationsto bring in new jobs and new business.  Under the current plan,all airport operations occur at the cluster of buildings at the lowerright hand corner of the picture below.  Our hope over time is to move theskydiving operation from its current location to the upper portion of theairport, represented by the yellow bar at the top of the picture labeled “PhaseII Recreational Focus.”   While talks are merely conceptual at thispoint, I could see expansion of the recreation area to include restaurants andother recreational activities in a cluster across the top of the airport. People come to sky dive for the weekend.  We should work with privatebusiness to provide other activities to keep them in the area, enjoyingtheir weekend, and spending their money at Middletown businesses.  To movethis forward, we would need to run a new road off of Carmody and would need tobring utilities to the site.

There are also opportunities for new commercial andindustrial aviation-related businesses by opening up new acreage by adding anew road off of Hook.  By adding a road and access to utilities, we canopen up tens of acres for future development, represented by the blue clusterof buildings on the left side of the picture below and labeled “Phase IIIndustrial/Commercial Campus.”

FAA was open to the concepts listedabove.  The next step for us is to develop a new Airport Layout Plan(ALP) for FAA consideration that would formalize this type of airportlayout and permit us to use FAA grants for some of the construction anddevelopment process.  We are starting that process now.  It willlikely take all of 2016 to create the ALP and obtain FAA approval.  We willbe working during that time on designing what will be required to implementthis plan when approved in its final form.

Other Development Opportunities

As we get the new Economic Development Director onboard and we get organized and efficient in daily operation, we have multipleother sites available to market and develop for higher paying jobs in Middletown.  MADEindustrial park still has 40 acres available.  The Magnode property isstill undeveloped with 40 acres available.  Greentree still has 6 acresavailable, and we have another 50 acres or so of individual parcels that allcan be used to create additional business in Middletown.

As I said, this is a marathon, not a sprint. It will be a daily grind to find, recruit and retain new business and to helpour existing businesses thrive and expand over the next five years.  Ifopportunities change or some piece of this beginning plan becomes unrealistic,then we change gears and focus on what we CAN do to move the city forward andmeet our end goals.  Adapt and overcome….

With the large number of acres, different types ofsites available, and property owners now working with Economic Developmentstaff to better market property for development, I believe we can meet thisgoal by 2020.